1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flexible energy conversion device and a method of manufacturing the same. More specifically, the present invention relates to a flexible energy conversion device which comprises a nanostructure grown through a wet process, and to a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
An energy conversion device is used to convert energy generated by an energy production device or another type of energy so as to be adapted for necessary end uses. Examples of the energy conversion device include an external combustion engine for converting thermal energy into mechanical energy, a power generator for converting kinetic energy into electrical energy, a motor for converting electrical energy into kinetic energy, a solar cell for converting light energy into electrical energy, etc. In particular, as for the solar cell, many attempts to convert light energy into electrical energy have been made since the French scientist Becquerel discovered that exposing two metal electrodes submerged in an electrolyte solution to light increases the amount of electricity generated, which is called the photovoltaic effect. A solar cell was first developed at Bell Labs in 1958, and was then actually used as a power source of the Vanguard spacecraft. After the 1980s, solar cells began to be utilized as a terrestrial power source. The solar cell is classified depending on its material of manufacture into an inorganic solar cell such as a silicon, compound or compound tandem solar cell, an organic solar cell such as a dye or polymer solar cell, and an organic-inorganic hybrid cell. Solar cell devices are very difficult to use as a power supply because materials for the devices contain environmentally unfriendly elements and the photovoltaic effect cannot be ensured in the absence of light. Also, most of the solar cell devices adopt an inorganic substrate, and thus their applications to the fields which are environmentally friendly and biocompatible are limited.
Meanwhile, conventional fabrication method of a nanostructure is used to perform a chemical growth method such as MOCVD (Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition), or a physical growth method such as VSLE (Vapor Liquid Solid Epitaxial), PLD (Pulsed Laser Deposition) and so on, all of which may be performed at a high temperature of 500° C. or more in order to stably grow a nanostructure. Specifically, the nanostructure is conventionally grown in a manner such that a noble metal is deposited in the form of a thin film having a thickness of the nano-level on a substrate through sputtering or thermal evaporation, and the thin film deposited at the nano level is thermally treated, thus forming a noble metal assembly having a thickness of ones of nm, which is then grown into a nanostructure using MOCVD, VSLE, PLD or a sol-gel process as mentioned above. However, this conventional method has some drawbacks, such as process complexity, low productivity, and large equipment for its growing. Moreover, although conventional fabrication of the nanostructure enables the use of an inorganic substrate, using inorganic substrates which are hard imposes limitations on allowing the device to be available in diverse shapes and to be used in a variety of places.